Reconsidering the European Union as a Supranational Civil Sphere in Times of the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

The European dream portrays the European Union (EU) as a sphere of inclusive solidarity, a civil space that unites the lifeworlds of its member states into a single European community. At the same time, through the overarching principle of inclusive solidarity, the diversity inherent within these lifeworlds is preserved. Such ever-closer integration is indeed a European dream that has never been realised. In practice, the EU is beset by affective polarisation, fuelled by particularistic opportunism that masquerades as collective European values, and the erosion of its institutions is increasingly evident. Capitalising on internal and external unrest, be it war or economic upheaval, Eurosceptics antagonise both the Union’s responses and its supranational ideals, arguing that these are ill-suited to, and damaging for, their member states’ lifeworlds, and that the pursuit of the European dream by ‘Brussels bureaucrats’ has inflicted profound harm on their nations. Nowadays, crises stemming from Eurosceptic politics of fear persistently accompany European progress. Yet some analysts argue that crisis mobilisation may be transformed into a positive catalyst for integration, capable even of taming antagonistic Eurosceptic tendencies. Could integration forged through crisis serve as a panacea for affective polarisation? Could crises help to legitimise European solidarity, remaking the EU as a genuine supranational civil sphere? This paper addresses these questions by analysing the Union’s responses to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and their reception across member states, with Italy, Germany, and Austria as case studies.